Aston Martin today announced that it has signed a letter of intent to enter into a technical partnership with Mercedes-Benz AMG that will see Benz’s high-performance arm provide bespoke V-8 powertrains and electrical architecture in exchange for a five-percent stake in the British marque without voting rights. Aston will continue to use its trademark, in-house-built 5.9-liter V-12 as its flagship powertrain rather than adopt AMG’s twin-turbo 6.0-liter unit.

Aston says that the AMG V-8s it will receive will be “newly developed” and “bespoke,” with our sources at Gaydon emphasizing that this is a partnership and not simply an engine-supply deal—so don’t expect mills out of either of AMG’s “55”- or “63”-badged vehicles being dropped into Aston Martin engine bays. The British manufacturer also said that these engines will power the brand’s “new generation of models.” The word we’re hearing from those inside Aston is “flexibility”; the implication being that in two to three years, when we can expect to see the first AMG-powered Astons, the British brand’s lineup will include more V-8–centric offerings—such as the V8 Vantage—or more models with a V-8 option.

We’re told that discussions of a tie-up between Daimler and Aston Martin had been taking place on and off since the Lagonda concept began development some five years ago. While the dialogue of these discussions surely has changed since then—initially conversations centered around Aston using the Mercedes GL-class architecture to underpin a production version of the Lagonda—we think this is a much more exciting and promising fit between the pair of automakers.